Konami released a video containing nearly ten minutes' worth of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker gameplay today featuring a few new weapons and items Big Boss will be using. I've watched this a few times already, and from what I've seen, it's clear that the PSP is far from dead. After seeing the game in motion, I can barely contain my excitement for this next installment in the Metal Gear franchise.

Though the locale is entirely new, and seemingly a research installation of some sort, a lot of what happens in the gameplay above has been seen before (tranquilizer, CQC, Fulton system) in earlier footage. What intrigues me most are the new features being shown off. Boss makes use of some sort of scanner, likely for the game's recruitment portion, that analyzes unconscious enemies, and breaks down their important statistics. Apparently, not only will enemies have perks (like what could be engineering - 2:17), but the perks will have ranks ranging from A to at least E. Almost immediately after securing that first recruit, Boss lures another soldier over, and tricks him with a decoy. I enjoy the liberties Kojima takes with weaponry and technology available during the timeframes in which the Metal Gears have taken place, and I think this decoy item will make playing with three other friends extremely enjoyable.

Boss chooses not to recruit the guy who falls for the old cardboard Snake trick, and then some interesting menu options open up pertaining to "Groups" (4:30). I don't understand kanji, so I can't make out exactly what the menu pertains to, and nothing that happens on screen gives any indication as to what it means. There's a brief bit of dialogue, but again, I'm not fluent in Japanese, so I no idea what's going on. I'll find out eventually, but right now it's a bit confusing. Anyway, right after that, Boss drops down into what I'm going to call a maintenance tunnel, where he stumbles across a sleeping man in a jumpsuit who looks suspiciously like Boss (5:24). From there, we see Boss head topside once more to use another new item, the stealth mat (6:56), to dupe another soldier. Yeah, going to have to get me one of those. As soon as that soldier heads back to his post, Boss marks the area immediately next to that soldier for a supply drop. Of course, the unsuspecting enemy has no idea he's about to get hit in the head with a crate of rations and ammo (7:58).

Boss runs over to a nearby elevator, and just like that, the scene is over. I've been looking forward to Peace Walker ever since it was announced, but after seeing just how cool it's going to be to play, I can hardly wait. Just think about how much fun this is going to be with three other people.

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